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Quote of the Day:

“I watched him in this race for many years and it makes me feel good to see Daddy happy. Makin' Daddy happy - that's number one! I've spent more than 20 years makin' him miserable so it's great to finally make him happy. ”
-Dale Earnhardt Junior after winning the Wintson all Star Race at Lowes Motor Speedway in 2000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
Dale Earnhardt Jr, Coleman Pressley

TALLADEGA RESULTS

2007 Standings

1 +1 Jeff Gordon 0 5690

2 -1 Jimmie Johnson -9 5681

3 -- Clint Bowyer -63 5627

4 -- Tony Stewart -154 5536

5 +2 Carl Edwards -200 5490

6 -1 Kevin Harvick -120 5488

7 +2 Kurt Busch -210 5480

8 -2 Kyle Busch -260 5430

9 +3 Denny Hamlin -267 5423

10 -2 Martin Truex Jr -300 5390

11 -- Matt Kenseth -313 5377

12 -2 Jeff Burton -331 5359

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MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE?
Bruton Smith Wrong On Speedway Issue
By Greg Engle,Editor Cup Scene Daily October 10

Right now it’s Burton Smith’s world and everyone in Concord just lives in it.

The very public spat between Smith the owner of Speedway Motorsports Incorporated and the Concord City Council appears to be headed towards a resolution; Council members voted Tuesday to ask the Planning and Zoning Commission to consider amending the speedway's zoning to allow drag strips on the property -- a use that the City Council unanimously banned only last week.

In other words, the City Council blinked.

It all started when the Concord City Council voted unanimously last week not to allow construction on Smith's drag strip, citing concern about noise in nearby neighborhoods. In response, Smith said he was willing to spend $350 million to move his speedway out of Concord and build it somewhere else.

Of course that would really happen only when people in and around Concord looked skyward and saw pigs flying overhead.

Smith has no intentions of moving the Speedway, but the City Council and the County reacted at the mere whisper scrambling around like mice being chased by a cat. The business and tourism organizations -- the Cabarrus Tourism Development Authority, Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce and Cabarrus Economic Development Corp. -- want the drag strip and the track to remain in the county. The groups held a joint meeting Monday morning and issued a resolution that says they want the issue revolved in a way "allowing for continued economic expansion and employment opportunities in the motorsports industry in Cabarrus County." The groups also pledged support to "the completion of Mr. Smith's dream to build the World's Racing Destination in Cabarrus County."

What Bruton Smith wants, Burton Smith gets, seemingly without question. And that’s a damn shame.

Franchitti to race truck at Martinsville
October 10

Dario Franchitti who successfully completed his stock car debut last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway finishing 17th in the ARCA RE/MAX Series race, will continue with his NASCAR initiation in two weeks' time when he races in a Craftsman Truck Series event at Martinsville Speedway. All with the goal of competing in the Sprint Cup Series in the No. 40 Dodge in 2008.

Reigning Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, of Scotland, left, answers questions from the media during a press conference at the Chip Ganassi Racing compound in Concord, N.C. on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007. Franchitti has signed a multi-year deal with Chip Ganassi to compete in the NASCAR series beginning in 2008. (AP Photo/Rick Havner)
“I’d like to get as much time as possible in the seat,” Franchitti said. “I’d like to get on all different types of tracks if I can and get as much time as possible until I feel comfortable. Then we’ll reevaluate from there. The team has been through this with Juan last season so they have a good handle on it. They will know what I need to be doing and I’ll go along with that.”

Although Chip Ganassi Racing doesn’t have a team in the truck series, they will field the No. 41 Cunningham Motorsports-owned Dodge Ram for Franchitti who signed with CGR last week. The effort will be led by crew chief Brian Pattie, who also worked with the Scot at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend.

Franchitti will join fellow NASCAR rookie Jacques Villeneuve in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville. The Canadian will be making his third start in the Series, but for both Indy 500 champions it will be their first ever race at the short-track in Virginia.

Franchitti not only wants to gain valuable experience but work on gaining the respect of his fellow drivers.

“The only way to do that is to go on the track and earn their respect through your actions on the track,” Franchitti said. “I’ve met some of the guys from the Nextel Cup Series and I’ve spoken to some of them. I think it’s really your actions on the track that will earn me that respect.”

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Sorenson, Ganassi penalized for Talladega violation
By Reid Spencer,Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service,October 10

NASCAR announced Tuesday penalties to driver Reed Sorenson, owner Chip Ganassi and No. 41 Dodge crew chief Jimmy Elledge for an infraction found during inspection after Sunday’s UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Sorenson was docked 25 championship points and Ganassi 25 owner points because the front of the No. 41, which finished 10th in Sunday’s Nextel Cup race, failed to meet minimum height requirements. Elledge was fined $25,000 and placed on probation through Dec. 31.

The penalties were in line with those assessed to Carl Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing team after a similar height-stick inspection failure following Edwards' victory Sept. 23 at Dover.

Red Bull: Building team 'from scratch'
By Lee Spencer, FOXSports.com,October 10

Robert Yates Racing has been in flux since the Sept. 7 announcement of their partnership with Roush Fenway Racing. Over the past month, several scenarios have surfaced as employees scramble to find new jobs.

One rumor mentioned the purchase of RYR by Team Red Bull. Red Bull has struggled to find its wings since coming to NASCAR, and currently finds itself outside of the top 35 threshold in the owner standings — 38th and 48th for the Nos. 83 and 84, respectively.

Any team inside the top 35 of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series owner standings is guaranteed a starting position at every race, while those sitting on the outside have to battle to qualify.

Considering TRB's two cars have combined to miss 28 of a possible 60 starts this year, there would be a benefit from acquiring RYR's owner points.

Red Bull officials have confirmed that they have been approached by Robert Yates about purchasing his organization, but have denied reports that a deal has been made.

"Robert Yates did contact us awhile back to see if we were interested in talking with him about purchasing his building or his teams," TRB's Vice President of Competition Guenther Steiner said. "We weren't — so the conversation ended there. We're committed to building our team from scratch and making our cars competitive. We don't have plans to buy anyone else's team."

The purchase of RYR's building would also make sense though, as TRB currently occupies the shop previously owned by Penske Racing, which is older than the one used by Yates.

RYR will cease to exist as of Dec. 1 when a new company, Yates Racing, is born. Doug Yates, Robert's son, will be in charge of the new organization.

Patrick Carpentier signs to take over the No. 10
October 10

Canadian open wheel star has been signed to drive the No. 10 Dodge at Gillett-Evernham Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series in 2008.

Carpentier will take over for departing driver Scott Riggs who recently signed with Haas-CNC Racing.

Carpentier made his debut in the NASCAR Busch Series at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in August. He took the pole in qualifying and finished the race in 2nd place.

Eight days later, he made his NASCAR Nextel Cup debut at Watkins Glen, in the No. 10 replacing Riggs. He started 40th and led for 7 laps and came home in the 20th position.

'Embarrassing' season for Evernham
By Dustin Long, The Roanoke Times,October 10

Ray Evernham's worst NASCAR season is nearly complete, just as he's starting to see encouraging signs.

A year after Kasey Kahne won a series-high six races, he and teammates Elliott Sadler and Scott Riggs have combined for nine top-10 finishes at Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

"It's killing me," Evernham said of his team's performance. "You've got two choices. You can go under the covers and cry ... or work hard and fix it. That doesn't mean it's easy to stomach. It's embarrassing."

Mistakes were made.

The View From Fanville
Friends and Strangers
By Amy Hair, Senior Columnist Cup Scene Daily, October 10

One of my internet friends, of which I have never met, but we’ve been corresponding for a long time, was at Talladega this Sunday for the race. She has connections, if you know what I mean, so she got to meander around in corners that even the most elite guests never get to see.

Her day started off with an official in her face, fussing at her for being where he thought she shouldn’t be, but the mystery was soon cleared up and she went on her way. Wandering through the garage area before anyone gets there is very eerie. The cars had their pretty little blankets on and were all still sitting quietly, not revealing the tiniest hint as to what the day would bring.

This Day in NASCAR History
By Bill Marx, The Sporting News,October 10

1976: At the age of 57, one of NASCAR’s all-time greats makes his last Cup start. Two-time champion Buck Baker, winner of 46 races and a top 10 finisher in 372 of 636 Grand National/Cup races, finishes 24th in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Donnie Allison wins and Cale Yarborough finishes a distant second. Yarborough was racing for his fifth straight victory.

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